The CEO of Google, Eric Schmidt, made a surprising comment during a commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania. According to an Associated Press article, Schmid told the graduates, “Turn off your computer. You’re actually going to have to turn off your phone and discover all that is human around us”. That’s a surprising statement from the CEO of a company whose revenue is based on people using their computers to visit Google and Google-owned properties.

During the ceremony, Schmidt was awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Schmidt holds a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley. He went on to add, “Nothing beats holding the hand of your grandchild as he walks his first steps”.

It may sound a little insane for the CEO of Google to tell people to turn off their computers, but his advice is a short lesson in balance. If you bury yourself in the online world you lose track of what’s around you. What’s around you is real and deserves more of your time. The popularity of social websites is an excellent example of the desire of humans to connect with one another. The key point is that face to face communication is just as important as electronic communication.